Jolla gets on the ground in Asia with a few partnerships

by Greg Anderson 15:12 CEST on 12 August, 2014

We were loving Jolla in the press about a year ago for being the mobile phone comeback story that Finland needed. But after launching their phone last November, they've been quiet in Europe, with the only recent news that Jolla has partnered with mobile operator Elisa in Estonia.

What's been happening in the background was that Jolla has been building up partnerships in Asia, announcing mid July they're entering the Indian market with Snapdeal. Later in July they also entered Kazakhstan with local partner Mobile Invest, and even opened up their first Jolla Showroom in Almaty. Today Jolla announces that they're now present in Hong Kong after partnering with local mobile operator 3 Hong Kong.

When talking with the company about strategy around their launch, they were careful to describe that the US/EU might not even be their key market, instead looking for the massive asian markets.

Jolla has gotten some mixed reviews in the press here, while still counting its diehard defenders. Jolla's "the other half" concept of removable back covers that add functionality to the product still might be a fun concept for Asian cellphone shops to sell, so perhaps they're poised nicely.

“Hong Kong is a trendsetter in mobile, and we are very happy to bring Jolla to Hong Kong together with 3 Hong Kong. This is our first operator partnership in Asia, and we feel that 3 Hong Kong is the perfect partner for us," says Antti Saarnio, Chairman of the Board of Jolla in a statement.

Anyone have any deeper insight as to how Jolla will take off in Asia? Let us know in the comments.